My People Film Series: Season 6 Reflection
Recapping Season 6 of KST’s African American LGBTQIA Film Festival
By Trevor Miles
The My People Film Series posed five questions to its guests during the month of November:
1 – How would you like to see KST get more involved in the LGBTQIA community?
2 – My favorite LGBTQIA event/place in Pittsburgh is…
3 – What local LGBTQIA resource has been the most beneficial to you?
4 – There’s not enough ________ for me in Pittsburgh
5 – Who are you support system/LGBTQIA allies?
Duane Binion, Associate Producer reflects on the mission of My People. “Our focus this year was to continue creating a safe space like we have done for the past six years, while getting a better sense of where our audience would like to see the Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s involvement in the LGBTQIA community here in Pittsburgh. This year we were able to spark important dialogue, and connect with community members that may not have ever been to our space, but can now feel comfortable in knowing that we here at KST are supporters of the community as whole with no judgement of race, sexual preference, or religion.”
Ryan Ricarte, Programming Associate at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater mentions the reason the My People film festival resonates with the Pittsburgh LGBTQIA community. “Historically, My People has been a way for KST to celebrate the life of Billy Strayhorn as an openly gay person of color, and I think as the series has matured, the focus of the series is to foster a safe place for those who think the safe spaces here in Pittsburgh aren’t safe enough.”
Below are some of the responses we received at the festival:
If you have a response to a prompt that you don’t see above, feel free to leave your feedback here or on our Facebook!